Schools in Paris

[montse253]

I currently live in London and will be moving to Neuilly sur Seine in August this year. I may come back to London in 2yrs time. I have a 4yr old boy that speaks Spanish and English and has been exposed to French as well as went to Stewart international. However, he is going to speech therapy as his communication in both languages is limited and not very clear, so i have stopped the French for now. Any recommendations in terms of schools? Any views on Marymount, ISP/ASP/BSP? Bilingual Montessoris? Any experiences with the Neuilly French maternelles? (i will be living next to Saussaye)

My DSSs went to La Saussaye, I know many DC who went there and it is fine. However, if your DC have any king of special educational needs Marymount is the best school around.

There is no advantage to ASP or ISP over Marymount for little ones - on the contrary.

Thanks very much Bonsoir! So far he is doing speech therapy outside of school, and his current school said to continue to do that. My company doesn't pay school fees, so i have been hesitating what to do, as those schools are so expensive! My concern with the maternelle is that in England they start reading and writing at 4 (Reception) and if we go back in two years my son is going to be behind. I have to say that i went to visit Marymount yesterday and I loved it! The headmaster came down and spent a lot of time talking about the school answering all my questions. So perhaps even if it's a lot of money perhaps it's worth it ...

I think he will soon catch up with reading and writing when you come back to the UK so I wouldn't use that as a dealbreaker. If they are older they just tend to pick it up more quickly.

If you planning to return to the UK after two years but don't want to fork out for Marymount's eye watering fees, you can put him in La Saussaye where he will be fine and have lots of local friends and then you can employ a tutor (I have an address) on Wednesdays to help him along with phonics. But I agree - do not omit to teach him to read in English in accordance with the English time table.

I'm not sure DC at Marymount do much reading and writing before US 1st grade (Year 2). They are definitely behind the UK - I have English friends who have taken their DC out of Marymount and put them in the British school to prepare them for a return to the UK to get them up to speed. You would probably need a literacy tutor in any event (IME a very good way of teaching reading).

Thanks very much Bonsoir and BertiBotts. Sorry, not familiar with those terms, what's a literacy tutor? How does that work with 4yr olds as i think they learn more by playing in a team setting? Do these tutors know how to work with small kids? Also, what's IME? Would be great if i could talk to one of those people to see whether that option is feasible, so grateful for any details. Marymount said kids learn reading and writing between pre-K and K, and gets consolidated in the year after, however, i dont think they push kids so may be not all kids do that as not ready for it.

There is a company in Paris co-run by a MNer who is a qualified primary teacher. They work one-to-one or one-to-two either EFL from scratch or EMT literacy. Individual attention doesn't exclude play based work. A There are tons of games around letters and phonics so I really wouldn't be put off a tutor for that reason.

IME - in my experience

Thanks to all for all this info! As I'm still living in London and don't really know my way around Paris any details would be greatly appreciated if you could PM me.

Went to see Victor Hugo yesterday and didn't really like it even though has 10 pupils in a classroom at this level. Someone mentioned to consider the Spanish School on rue de la Pompe, as they introduce French as well, they have smaller classes (max 20 in moyenne) and could be an easier transition (we speak Spanish and English at home -my partner is English but speaks fluent French-, and my son has Spanish as second language in his current school), and get an English tutor. However, I don't know what's the quality of teaching there or how that compares with a French maternelle, in terms of approach and pedagogy (I would like a caring place that uses positive reinforcement and gets the best of a child allowing him to discover what his real strengths are).

I went to University in the US, and like the American approach of teamwork, self confidence, can do attitude of self reliance and independence. I wonder to what extent that's also important in the early years or can be exposed to it and absorb it later, lets say middle school.

I think you and your DC will enjoy Paris more if you concentrate on speaking English and French. Your DC won't learn much from the world at large if he goes to school in Spanish.

I wouldn't choose Victor Hugo over La Saussaye in your position. Either La Saussaye or Marymount will provide local friends and a stress-free life - at La Saussaye you would be able to bring DS home for lunch which they love when they are little and they love inviting friends home for lunch too.

Thanks for the replies. Any names or addresses of English literacy tutors will be appreciated!

I'm about to move to Paris and would really appreciate any details of good literacy tutors. NomDeClavier you mentioned a Mner, do you have the details of her company? I found roaminghouse, but they don't do literacy until later. Any experience of using them? Many thanks!